Australia's PM says emissions trading needed; not at domestic workers expense |
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Published
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Mon, 05 Feb 2007 05:40
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SYDNEY (AFX) - A worldwide system to put a price on harmful gas emissions should be a key part of any plan to combat global warming, but should not come at Australia's expense, Prime Minister John Howard said during his weekly radio address yesterday..'Market mechanisms, including carbon pricing, will be integral to any long-term response to climate change,' he said, but added that Australian industry had to be protected.'All of my government's many initiatives to tackle global warming and its symptoms are sensitive to the nature of our industries, our major power sources and our natural abundance of fossil fuels,' he said.'We are not going to sell out the many thousands of workers in the mining and power generation industries by hastily agreeing to proposals that unfairly disadvantage Australians.'Howard said while climate change was undeniable, 'knee-jerk reactions that harm the national interest' were not the answer.But he said part of the solution would be a global carbon trading system.Under such a system, companies wishing to exceed limits on their carbon dioxide emissions could buy the right to do so from firms with lower outputs.Howard said a joint business and government taskforce was working to design an emissions trading system.AFP
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DAVOS US should lead efforts to set up global carbon trading regime - CEOs 